Widows Mite

We're transitioning Maddie from two naps to one, or rather she is transitioning me. So, she is extra whiny and cranky for a good portion of the day. Sometimes the crying lasts for two hours. It almost makes me snap. The last few days, when Ben can tell I've had enough, he gets concerned. If I can pull myself together and get Maddie calmed down for the twenty-fifth time and go take a breather in another room, Ben will sometimes come in to talk to me.

"Mom, since you are feeling so sad and frustrated, I have something to make you happy again," he'll tell me. "I'll give you a hint." That's how everything with Ben works these days, he'll give us a hint. "It's round and shiny and I got it out of the fountain at the mall." His smile almost cracks his face, he is so excited to share. He brings his hand out from behind his back and hands over one of his very few, extremely valuable pennies.

It is so touching that he would think of me. I know he has racked his brain to think of the most valuable thing he has to offer me. There is no greater gift to receive than his most treasured possessions.

It's Still a Boy!!

Yesterday was our big 20 week ultrasound. Everything looks great and we're still having a boy. Ben is excited because he "doesn't have a brother yet, only a sister. It's called Maddie." They have the new 4-D ultrasound in the office, so they did some pictures of the baby's face, but ours weren't exactly amazing. The baby had his hand against his face most the time they had that tool out, so it sort of obstructed the view. Still it was cool. Can you make out an amazing profile yet?

Happy Anniversary to Us

So today is our 9th anniversary. It's hard to think of life alone anymore. I haven't been independent forever! Being with Brian is so much fun. Recently, things have been even more fun than usual. Maybe I've been in a better mood after my mommy vacation (girls camp), or maybe he's gotten a bit more witty, but we sure have laughed more in the last week.

We celebrated last night by going out to The Melting Pot restaurant. It was so yummy! I'm a total fan of that place. We figured the last time we went was for Brian's birthday when I was pregnant with Ben, so I suppose we are allowed to splurge on a nice night every 4 years or so. Anyway, we had "The Big Night Out" four course meal. Cheese fondue, house salads, meat and veggie fondue with great spices and flavor, followed by dessert...chocolate fondue with fresh fruit. I was so full after all that I could barely stand up to walk out. Seriously, it's an experience that everyone should have at least once.

Thou Shalt Keep the Sabbath Day Holy

So, you try to teach your kids a few basics and they get taken to the extreme.. A month or so ago, we had a neighbor move in with a boy a year older than Ben, so now he has a built in playmate on the weekends or after he gets home from daycare. It was great until we realized that now we had to teach him about keeping the sabbath day holy and not playing with friends on Sunday. We had a Family Home Evening on it and tried to talk about all the things we could do instead and that it was a family day. It was only mediocre. Maddie kept stealing everything for visual aids and the pen for writing our "Can Do" list. Finally, Ben was bored and we gave up. He sort of got it. This Sunday, we went on a walk to a neighbors house to deliver some paperwork before church. Ben rode his bike. Later on, he told Brian how extremely worried he was about what he had done. "We aren't supposed to work on Sunday, but I worked on pedaling!" He was seriously distressed. Brian had to calm him down. Another thing that caused him some serious consternation was the TV commercials they kept running. "Those guys keep saying 'It's a great idea to order today." But it isn't a good idea because it's Sunday." He just couldn't understand why they would say that over and over if it was such a bad idea.

My Daily Walking Infomercial

Ben discovered a new channel on our TV and has been watching it lots in the last week. We got our new digital TV tuner, and have discovered the magic channel called "qubo." This is the first time Ben has been exposed to real commercials and I can't believe how he can almost recite some of them. He tells me all the time out of the blue, "Mom, we need _________" (fill in blank with space saver bags, a cell phone holder or the pancake puff pan). I've never uploaded a movie before, so I don't know how big is too big, so if it takes too long to play for you, just skip it... :) It doesn't seem to upload right anyway.

Ben and Maddie Come to See the Baby

Ben and Maddie came with us today to my regular 20 week check-up for the pregnancy. Ben was interested in what is happening with the baby, so we thought why not. Maddie was mostly interested in opening every drawer and using the potty in the exam room. Oh well. Ben was excited to see the pictures and moved the chair around the room to get the best view of the TV screen. When he was settled, we waited about 30 minutes. I started seriously rethinking my good sense of bringing them... Eventually, the doctor come in. Ben got to turn off the light and he showed him the baby on the screen from the ultrasound on my belly. We think he liked it, but it was hard to tell. He seemed to be able to follow when we pointed out a head or a hand moving. Brian asked Ben if the baby had clothes on. He told Brian that I had told him that the baby didn't have a dresser to keep his clothes in, so he'd just have to wait to get clothes when it came out. Right now he is just naked. P.S. It's still a boy. We'll get a more final word at our big ultrasound on Wednesday.

Hi Woofelt

Maddie keeps calling Grandma Zufelt on the computer mouse. Grandma never answers, but Maddie keeps trying and trying to get a response...